Lemonade
by Bohemian Storm
Summary: Sirius and Remus prepare for a house warming party and have a little bit of a competition at the same time. Slash.


**Disclaimer:  **I don't own them.  It's a good thing that I don't.  They belong to J.K. Rowling.

**Notes:  **Dedicated to Nita (She's a Star) for her birthday.  Have a wonderful birthday, dear, and I hope the coming year is everything you want it to be.

**Lemonade**

_By Bohemian Storm_

            "There are no lemons in lemonade," Sirius insisted, holding out his hand.  He curled his fingers slightly, gesturing that he wanted the spoon Remus was clutching like a sword.  Instead of handing it over, Remus shook his head and ducked out of the kitchen.  He heard Sirius sigh in exasperation behind him and fought to hold down a grin.

            They were in Remus's home, the one his parents had left empty for him after graduation, and what was the first thing a twenty year old male would do with his very own house?  Have a house warming party, of course.  It was small, but it smelled like home and was cozy and warm.  Sirius had wanted a raging kegger (didn't he always) while Remus had insisted on a quiet party with their close friends.  Sirius had eventually agreed, demanding that he be allowed to prepare the food and drinks.  Right down to the lemonade that apparently didn't need to include lemons.

            "James and Lily and the others are going to be here any second," Sirius scolded, coming out of the kitchen and following Remus down the hall.  "Give me that spoon."

            Remus turned to face him and shook his head.  "No."

            "Moony."

            Remus grinned.  "Padfoot," he said, in the same mocking tone.

            "Don't make me . . ." Sirius trailed off and just stared down the hall.

            "Make you what, Padfoot?"  Remus danced lightly from one foot to the other, grinning at his friend.  

            "I _was_ on the Quidditch team, remember?"

            "What're you going to do, Padfoot?  Throw a bludger at me?"

            A grin twitched at Sirius's mouth, but he held it down.  "I might."  He studied Remus for a long moment, then cocked his head.  "You're awfully playful today."

            Remus flushed slightly, but kept up with the 'keep away' dance.  Sirius was right.  He was more playful than usual, but there was something about this house that made him want to sing.  Something about finally being alone and responsible and . . . making lemonade with his best friend that made him act strange.  He stared at Sirius for a long moment, noted the water droplets trembling on the ends of his friend's fingers and he wondered why Sirius hadn't wiped the water off in the kitchen.  One of the hands went to Sirius's hair and pushed back a stray lock.  He arched an eyebrow and waited for an answer from Remus.

            "It's the lemonade," Remus said very seriously.

            Sirius grinned stupidly and shook his head.  "Come back into the kitchen, Moony."

            "Why don't you just make me, Padfoot?"

            "Oh, now you've done it," Sirius said, wiping his wet hands on his jeans.  "Did you really just challenge me?"

            Remus smirked a little.  "I think I did."

            He didn't expect Sirius to charge down the hall like a bull and barely had time to dive into the bedroom on his right before his friend barreled past him.  He heard a crash and Sirius cursed, but Remus wasn't given a chance to even poke his head into the hall to see what Sirius had broken.  A second later, strong arms were around his waist and he was thrown backward, his back slamming hard against the worn mattress he was using in his bedroom.  

            "Sirius Black, ten points," Sirius crowed, sitting atop Remus and raising his arms into the air.  He looked down at his friend a second later and grinned.  "Remus Lupin ... zero."

            "I still have the spoon," Remus pointed out.  "And I'm not in the kitchen, am I?"

            "Fine, if you want to be difficult," Sirius said, sliding off Remus and reaching toward him.

            "What are you doing, Padfoot?" Remus asked, scooting backward on the bed.

            "I should think it's fairly obvious that I'm going to drag you into the kitchen," Sirius replied, grasping Remus's forearms tightly.  "And you can kick and scream all you want, it's not going to make a -- God!"

            Remus grinned as he yanked Sirius forward, causing them both to end up on the floor on the other side of the bed.  Sirius slammed against the wood floor first and Remus fell on top of him, the wooden spoon smacking Sirius's forehead.  He blinked in surprise, then arched an eyebrow and stared up at Remus.

            "Not only are you sitting on me, Moony, but I'm going to have a spoon mark in the middle of my forehead."

            Remus sat up, straddling Sirius's hips.  He quickly swallowed the words that he was tempted to say (I think I love you, Padfoot) and said, "Remus Lupin, ten points.  I do believe this is what they call a tie in Quidditch."

            Sirius stared up at him.  "Ten points for the tackle, I give you that, but that smack with the spoon was such a foul."

            "Was it really?" Remus asked, his eyes widening innocently.  "What about this?"  He whacked Sirius's stomach with the spoon, then rolled away and jumped back onto the bed.

            Sirius sat up and grinned.  "You're in for it now."  He stood and grabbed Remus's legs, causing them both to fall back onto the bed.  "Give me that spoon!" he growled, wrenching it from Remus's grip.  He stared at the spoon with wide eyes and then looked back down at Remus.  "What's the score now, Moony?  I believe it would be Black: twenty and Lupin: eight."

            "Eight?"

            Sirius nodded.  "Eight.  Two fouls."

            "Those were not fouls," Remus protested.

            "Yes, they were."  Sirius pushed him back against the bed and whacked his head with the spoon.  "See?  Foul."

            "That hurt, you big git," Remus muttered, rubbing his forehead.

            "Awww, would ickle Remmiekins like a kiss to make his boo-boo all better?" Sirius asked, pouting appropriately and continuing to whack his friend with the spoon.

            "Ickle Remmiekins would like for you to go make the lemonade correctly and leave him alone to nurse his welts."

            Sirius writhed on Remus's lap and grinned mischievously.  "Do you honestly think that I'm still interested in the lemonade?" he asked, raining down a few more blows with the spoon.

            "No, you're apparently interested in beating me into a bloody pulp with a wooden spoon," Remus said, trying to block Sirius's aim with his forearms.  "Keep this up and there won't be any of me left to help you make the rest of the food for my party."  He paused for a moment, then pinned Sirius's arms under his own.  "Mind you, there won't be any of me left and therefore there won't be a party at all."

            Sirius squirmed, trying to break free.  "We'd just change it into one of those receptions people have after funerals."  He collapsed on Remus's chest, still trying to wrench his arms out of Remus's hold.  "Lemme go."

            "Stop beating me with the spoon," Remus replied, rolling over and pinning Sirius beneath him.

            "Make me," Sirius growled playfully.

            Remus grinned, then dug one of his fingers into Sirius's ribs.  "Make you, you say?"

            "Oh, God . . . Moony, don't tickle me."

            Remus's grin grew.  "Make you?"  He tickled a little more.  "Did you or did you not ask me to make you stop beating me with the spoon?"

            Sirius squirmed madly.  "I didn't say a thing."

            Remus grabbed Sirius's sides and squeezed.  "Did you or did you not ask me to make you stop beating me with the spoon?" he repeated.

            A tear trickled out from beneath Sirius's eyelid, which was squeezed so tightly shut that it looked painful.  "I said nothing," he insisted.

            Remus tickled him fiercely until Sirius finally opened his eyes and gasped for air, while screeching, "Quit it!  Quit it!  I said it!  You made me stop!  Just STOP tickling me."

            Remus leaned on his elbows and stared at Sirius.  "Okay."

            Sirius stared back, wiping away the tears.  "Okay?"

            "I stopped."

            "You're so evil," Sirius muttered, reaching for the spoon.

            "Y'know, James, Lily and Peter are going to be here soon," Remus said, climbing off Sirius and grabbing the spoon.  "We should really finish preparing everything."  

            Sirius nodded and glared at his friend.  "We should.  Just as long as you promise to make the lemonade the right way."

            "I was making it the right way," Remus said, stepping into the hall.  He turned back to say something else just as Sirius leapt off the bed and pinned him against the wall.

            "There are no lemons in lemonade," he growled jokingly and grabbed the spoon from Remus's hand.  His fingers brushed against Remus's before he leaned forward to rest his elbow on the wall.  They were completely locked into a tiny area, their arms holding each other up and their feet positioned between the others'.  

            They stared at each other for a long moment before Remus flushed and looked away.  Sirius remained where he was, one hand on Remus's wrist and the other resting against the wall beside Remus's head.

            "This is odd," he said finally in a strained voice.

            Remus looked up, still blushing.  "You're telling me."

            Sirius stared at him.  "We've been fighting all afternoon."

            "Play fighting," Remus corrected.

            "Any excuse to touch each other," Sirius said.  "That's what it was."

            Remus shook his head.  "We don't have to talk about this, you know."

            "I kind of think that we do."  Sirius stared at him, then dropped the spoon and raised that hand to Remus's face.

            "What're you doing, Padfoot?" he asked, twisting away.

            Sirius didn't answer, but brushed away the hair that had fallen into Remus's face.  His fingertips grazed over the red mark he had made with the spoon and he smiled slightly upon seeing it.  Remus quivered under his touch and tried to back himself further against the wall.  It scared him, this close proximity.  He felt like Sirius would figure everything out.  His feelings, his undeniable attraction to his best friend . . . everything.

            "The others will be here soon," he said in a hoarse voice.  "We should--"

            "Shut up, Moony," Sirius said, bending closer.  

            Remus closed his eyes.  He was so scared, terrified really that this would destroy everything.  He'd ruined everything.  It was all his fault, his fault, his fault.  

            And then they were kissing and it suddenly wasn't so scary.  It was nice and soft and warm and he didn't even mind that Sirius's fingers were creeping up to cup his cheek and stroke his forehead, his head, his throat.  He didn't mind the feeling of being pressed into the wall and he wondered why he hadn't said something earlier.  They had been on a bed, after all.  He imagined the bed would have been a far more comfortable place for his first snog to take place.

            Sirius broke away a second later and stared at him.  "Is it okay that I never want to stop doing this?" he asked softly.

            Remus smiled shyly.  "It's okay."

            Their lips were barely touching when someone cleared their throat and they jumped apart to see James and Lily standing in the doorway.

            "It's really not okay," James said.  "Because we have a party to get started."

            Remus blushed furiously and buried his face in Sirius's shoulder.

            Lily grinned at her friends before ducking into the kitchen.  James winked at Sirius.

            "It's about bloody time, mate," he said, then followed his girlfriend.

            "Oooh, lemonade!" Lily squealed happily and Remus muffled his laughter by turning into Sirius's hair.

            A second later they heard a glass shatter and Lily spitting something into the sink.  Sirius chuckled.

            "I think you were right about the lemonade, Moony," he mumbled, then pressed a kiss against Remus's chin and dragged him back into the kitchen.

            "I win," he whispered.

            Remus looked at him.

            Sirius grinned.  "You dropped the spoon and you're back in the kitchen."

End


End file.
